Open Access

Open Access @ Grinnell College

Digital technologies can expand access to learning and scholarship in ways not possible with a paper-based publishing system, for the benefit of learners across the world and the scholarly authors as well.

In April 2013, the Grinnell College Faculty voted to give Grinnell College permission to disseminate worldwide, through the Digital Grinnell repository, their scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals after April 15. Faculty agreed to amend their publishing contract -- if necessary -- to permit this deposit. Waivers to this agreement are granted by the Dean's Office upon request (use the form below).

The resolution also encourages faculty and staff to make their curricular material and other scholarly publications freely available through Digital Grinnell. The full text of the resolution is available here.

Learn more about scholarly communication and open access:

NIH Public Access Policy

NIH Public Access Policy

The NIH Public Access Policy requires that an electronic copy of the final, peer-reviewed version of all articles accepted for publication that arise from funding--either in part or in whole--supplied by the National Institutes of Health be submitted to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central database be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.

Data Management Services

Why Do I Need a Data Management Plan?

Increasingly, the answer to this question is, “Because the agency that funds my research requires one.” Several grant-making agencies, including the National Science Foundation, now require that researchers have a plan for preserving data generated in the course of their research and sharing that data with other scholars. Some journals also require that the data used in published articles be made available to others who want to try to replicate or extend the results. However, even if you are not required to have a data management plan or to preserve and share your research data, we hope that you will consider doing so.

“Data sharing strengthens our collective capacity to meet scientific standards of openness by providing opportunities for further analysis, replication, verification and refinement of research findings…. In addition, the greater availability of research data will contribute to improved training for graduate and undergraduate students, and make possible significant economies of scale through the secondary analysis of extant data. Finally, researchers have a special obligation to scientific openness and accountability when the research is publicly funded.” - Data Archiving Policy, National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic and Sciences

Data Management Services Offered by the Libraries

If you are writing a grant that requires a data management plan, we encourage you to consult with a librarian early in the process. We can help you:

Select appropriate file formats so that your data files will still be readable in the future.

Select appropriate metadata schemas and describe your data so that other researchers will be able to find it.

Document your data so that other researchers will be able to interpret it.